Garment belt



D. BENSEL GARMENT BELT Sept. 9, 1947.

' Filed July 24, 1945 [N VEN TOR. Du/z YEA BENSEL ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 9, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFF I CEE" GARMENT BELT Duryea B'en'sel, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application July '24, 1945,. Scrial-No.;606,767

4 Claims.

This. invention relates generally to garment supporters, :and more particularly to waist-line body garment supports such as belts.

It is an object of this invention to provide a garment belt particularly adapted, although not necessarily, for feminine outer garments such as dresses, skirts and slacks, which is structurally characterized by simple means enabling the appearance of the belt to be changed at will to present a color or colors matching or barmonizing with the color scheme of the particular outfit being worn, so that a single neutrally colored belt body and a number of differently colored removable color display members or inserts will suffice to produce color har mony with any ensemble, and thus obviate the considerable expense of purchasing and maintaining several belts of different colors to go with various outfits.

Another object of this invention is to provide a garment belt of the above described character which is relatively simple in construction so as to enable it to be manufactured at a reasonable cost, and which securely holds the selected color display member flatly against displacement in its installedposition, so as toform the selectedcolor background visible through openings of a predetermined design in the front member or outside'iace of the belt.

With these andother objects. in view the invention resides in the combinations, arrangements andxfunctional relationships of elements as set forth in the following specification and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing,

Figure 1 is a view in front elevation, partly broken away, of one form of garment belt embodying this invention;

Figure 2 is a view of the garment belt in'rear elevation;

Figure 3 is-a side view-of a typical color display member or insert;

Figure 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the garment belt taken on the line 4-4 of Figure l Figure 5 is an enlarged transverse sectional View taken on the line 5--5 of Figure 1;

Figure 6 is an enlarged transverse sectional view taken on the line 6--6 of Figure 2;

Figure 7 is a side view of a threading leader for inserting the color display member into the body of the garment belt;

Figure 8 is a longitudinal sectional view of the leader shown in Figure '7, with an end of a color display member connected thereto; and

Figure 9 isa viewtsimilar'toFi'gure 1 and illustrating a slightly modified form of garment belt embodying this invention.

Referring specifically to the drawing, the invention in its illustrated embodiment comprises a belt body "B and a plurality. of color display members or inserts D of which several may be provided in a selection of colors to match or harmonize with the colors of various dresses, skirts, slacks and outfits of the user.

The body Bis a fiattened'tube in cross section to define a longitudinal passage lil therein, and

may be. constructed offfrontiand back members l1 and [2, respectively; which form the front and rear sides, of the belt. The members. H and i2 are permanently secured together along their longitudinal edges by lines of stitching I13 and !ii, and.merge .at their ends intotab extensions i5 and. T6, each having a plurality of female separable fastener parts ll, either of which is adapted to co-act, with a male. separable fastener part 18; 'The extensions I5 and iii are adapted to beinsertedthrough eyes 19 formed by U -shaped bars on. the back of a suitable buckle 29, and then folded back upon themselves for co-ac'tion of the respective fastener parts Hz", 118 in detachably connecting the ends of the belt body to the buckle around the waist of the wearer. It wi'lllbe understood that the belt will be 'ma'dein various lengths, and that the fastener parts l7; 18 provide for a limited length adjustment with. each particular belt s1ze.

The front member 11 of the belt body B is provided with openings 2'5 which may be or any desired configuration and arrangement to form a predetermined repeated, interrupted, or variable design of which one designis illustrated in Figure 1. The members ll and i2 can be constructed of leather; cloth, or other suitable flexible material, and ittwillb'e noted that should the front member H; be of such material that it wouldbe' excessively weakened by the removal of thestock to formthe openings 25, the membercan be backed or reinforced with a close woven buckram or kraft paper secured thereto by a rubber cement or other flexible adhesive.

At the ends of the passage ID, the back member I2 is provided with transversely extending end slots or slits 26 arranged in closely spaced pairs as shown in Figures 2 and 9, through which the selected color display member D can be inserted to span the length of the passage. The member D is of sufficient length for its ends to be folded and tucked into one slot of each pair 26 as shown in Figure 4, and thus be secured against longitudinal displacement with portions of the Member D exposed in the openings 25 of the front member II to produce a highly decorative design on the neutrally colored belt body B.

As shown in Figures 2, 4 and 6, the back member 12 may be additionally provided with slots or slits 27 arranged in transversely extending closely spaced pairs at intervals along the length of the back member [2 and at locations offset with respect to the openings 25 in the front member II. also be threaded through the slots 21 as shown in these figures, to lock the display member against longitudinal displacement and wrinkling in the openings 25.

To facilitate insertion of the display member D into the passage I through the slots 26 and 21, a threading leader 28 (Figures 7 and 8) in the form of a flat strip of plastic or other suitable material of slightly less width than the length of the slots, is provided. The leader 28 has a rounded nose 29, and is provided with a plurality of transversely extending slits or slots 30 adjacent its rear end, through which an end of the display member D can be threaded as shown in these figures, to detachably secure the display member to the leader which is then threaded through the slots 26, 21 and the passage Ill, followed by the display member until the latter has been pulled completely through the passage with the ends of the display member projecting sufiiciently to permit them to be tucked through one of each of the pairs of slots 26.

It will be clear that the display member D can be readily withdrawn from the passage l0 following release of the ends of the display member from the slots 26, for the use of the belt body 13 with another display member D of a different color to match or harmonize with another outfit. Thus, a single belt body B, and a selection of differently colored removable display members D will relatively inexpensively replace complete separate belts, one for each of the several outfits.

It will be noted that in Figure 9, additional transversely extending intermediate slots 3| can be provided in the back member l2, through which the leader 28 can be manipulated to facilitate drawing of the display member D through the passage I0 by enabling this operation to be performed with a relatively short leader. It will be appreciated that in the absence of the slots 3| or the equivalent slots 27, it would be difiicult to advance the display member through the passage without a leader whose length was at least equal to the distance between the end slots 26.

I claim:

1. A waist-line body garment support comprising: an elongated, flexible front member having openings therethrough arranged to define a predetermined design; an elongated, flexible back member co-acting with the front member to deline a fiat body having a passage between the .members; said back member having transverse The color display member D is adapted to g slots arranged in closely spaced pairs at prede termined intervals along its length and ofiset with respect to said openings; and a removable colored insert of flexible material in said passage displaying a preselected color in said openings, and threaded through said slots to confine said insert flatly against displacement.

2. A waist-line body garment support comprising: an elongated, flat body of tubular cross section defining a longitudinal passage in the body; one side of the body having openings therethrough arranged to form a design; and a colored display member disposed in said passage to produce a decorative color display in said openings; the other side of the body having end slots through which said display member can be inserted into and removed from said passage to enable a differently colored display member to be substituted; said other side of the body having intermediate slots offset from said openings and through which said display member can also be threaded for co-action with the end slots in holding the display member flatly against longitudinal displacement.

3. In a waist-line body garment support, an elongated, flat body of tubular cross section defining a longitudinal passage in the body; one side of the body having openings there-through in which portions of a colored display member in said passage will be exposed to produce a decorative color display in said openings; the other side of the body having transverse slots arranged in closely spaced pairs at predetermined intervals along its length and ofiset with respect to said openings through which the display member is adapted to be threaded into and out of said passage so as to display portions of the display member in said openings.

4. In a waist-line body garment support, an elongated, fiat body of tubular cross section defining a longitudinal passage in the body; one side of the body having openings therethrough in which portions of an insert in said passage will be exposed to produce a decorative display in said openings; the other side of the body having intermediate slots offset from said openings and through which said insert can be threaded through said passage.

DURYEA BENSEL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 670,708 Garford et al Mar. 26, 1901 723,961 Whittlesey Mar. 31, 1903 Re. 7,879 Mullee Sept. 11, 1877 594,201 Frothingham Nov. 23, 1897 670,726 Pierce Mar. 26, 1901 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 4,764 Great Britain Mar. 7, 1894 

